The court reaffirmed the necessity of adhering to principles of natural justice, requiring authorities to consider objections before taking coercive actions regarding land classification under the Tanks Act.

ORDER :

M. SUNDAR, J.

This common order will now govern the captioned 11 main writ petitions (hereinafter 'WPs' for the sake of brevity) and the captioned11 WMPs thereat.

2. This is the second round of litigation in this Court. The earlier round of litigation in this Court was vide W.P. Nos.37465 of 2024 etc. batch (11 WPs) which came to be disposed of by a common order dated 09.12.2024 made by this Court which reads as follows:

'IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

DATED : 09.12.2024

CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE M. SUNDAR
and
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE K. RAJASEKAR

W.P.Nos.37465, 37468, 37470, 37472, 37477, 37478, 37480, 37482, 37483, 37485 & 37486 of 2024
and
W.M.P.No. 40495 of 2024 in W.P. No.37465 of 2024
W.M.P.No. 40498 of 2024 in W.P. No.37468 of 2024
W.M.P.No. 40499 of 2024 in W.P. No.37470 of 2024
W.M.P.No. 40500 of 2024 in W.P. No.37472 of 2024
W.M.P.No. 40506 of 2024 in W.P. No.37477 of 2024
W.M.P.No. 40508 of 2024 in W.P. No.37478 of 2024
W.M.P.No. 40509 of 2024 in W.P. No.37480 of 2024
W.M.P.No. 40510 of 2024 in W.P. No.37482 of 2024
W.M.P.No. 40511 of 2024 in W.P. No.37483 of 2024
W.M.P.No. 40512 of 2024 in W.P. No.37485 of 2024
W.M.P.No. 40513 of 2024 in W.P. No.37486 of 2024

Rosiammal ... Petitioner in W.P. No.37465 of 2024
Subbamma .. Petitioner in W.P. No.37468 of 2024
Chinnammal .. Petitioner in W.P. No.37470 of 2024
Vasanthi .. Petitioner in W.P. No.37472 of 2024
Prema .. Petitioner in W.P. No.37477 of 2024
1. Kanchana
2. Loganathan .. Petitioners in W.P. No.37478 of 2024
Sasikala .. Petitioner in W.P. No.37480 of 2024
S.Gowri .. Petitioner in W.P. No.37482 of 2024
Valliamma .. Petitioner in W.P. No.37483 of 2024
Dhanalakshmi .. Petitioner in W.P. No. 37485 of 2024
Saritha .. Petitioner in W.P. No.37486 of 2024
vs.
1. The Assistant Engineer, Water Resources Department, Irrigation Division, Arakkonam, Ranipet District.
2. The Commissioner, Arakkonam Municipality, Arakkonam, Ranipet District.
3. The Tahsildar, Arakkonam Taluk Arakkonam, Ranipet District. ... Respondents in all WPs

Writ Petitions filed under Article 226 of The Constitution of India praying to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus calling for the records relating to the impugned orders dated 06.07.2022 and 15.11.2024 in Letter No. File No.34/A.E/Arakkonam/2024 issued by the 1st respondent, quash the same and consequently direct the respondents to regularize the petitioners' occupation over the sarkar poramboke as per the Circular vide Letter No.F3/11339/2018 dated 07.12.2020 issued by the Commissioner of Land Administration, Chepauk, Chennai.

For Petitioner : Mr. T.M. Mano for Mr. P. Krishnan in all WPs
For Respondents : Mr. V. Ravi Special Government Pleader for R1 & R3 in all WPs
Mr. T.K. Saravanan Government Advocate for R2 in all WPs

COMMON ORDER
[Order of the Court was made by M.SUNDAR, J.,]

This common order will govern the captioned 11 'Writ Petitions'(hereinafter 'WPs' in plural and 'WP' in singular for the sake of convenience and clarity) and 11 captioned 'Writ Miscellaneous Petitions' (hereinafter 'WMPs' in plural and 'WMP' in singular for the sake of convenience and clarity) thereat.

2. In all the 11 WPs, two sets of notices, one set dated 06.07.2022 and another set dated 15.11.2024 bearing reference both issued by R1 (The Assistant Engineer, Water Resources Department, Irrigation Division, Arakkonam, Ranipet District) have been called in question. These notices shall be collectively referred to as 'impugned notices' for the sake of convenience and clarity. However, wherever it becomes necessary, '06.07.2022 notices' shall be referred to as 'I impugned notices' and '15.11.2024 notices' shall be referred to as 'II impugned notices'.

3. Impugned notices have been issued under 'The Tamil Nadu Protection of Tanks and Eviction of Encroachment Act, 2007' (her